COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Free Clinic is partnering with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to host its third No Cost Colonoscopy Clinic.

What You Need To Know

  • The Columbus Free Clinic is partnering with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to host its third year of the No Cost Colonoscopy Clinic

  • They provide free colonoscopies and colon cancer screenings to underserved patients who can't afford it otherwise

  • According to incoming internal medicine resident, Matthew Yoder, the clinic is often helping patients detect early precancerous polyps 

It started because the clinic’s internal audit found only 3.5% of its eligible patients were receiving colorectal cancer screenings.  

“Our patient population is one that doesn't normally have good access to health care. And so we've seen that on average they are showing up 10 years after they should be starting their colonoscopy screening or just colorectal cancer screening in general,” said Matthew Yoder, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center incoming internal medicine resident. 

Yoder has been a part of The No Cost Colonoscopy Clinic since it’s inception in 2022 and said the number of patients they help grows every year. 

“I am proud to say that we've served over 130 patients to this program over the about three years that it's been running,” Yoder said.

Yoder knows how imperative it is for adults to get colonoscopies because he lost his grandmother to colorectal cancer. 

“If I can reach out to patients who maybe either don't have the financial means or don't really have the desire because they don't believe that it's worth doing. And if I can change one life, that's worth it,” Yoder said.

Dr. Samuel Akinyeye is one of the gastroenterologists performing the colonoscopies and cancer screenings during the free clinic.

“We take care of a lot of underserved patients and unfortunately have a lot of barriers to be able to get screened, whether it's access cost, you know, fear, different things like that," Akinyeye said. "And so this clinic allows us to be able to reach that patient population and to be able to get them screened so that we are able to decrease the chances that they're able to develop colorectal cancer."

Yoder says seven out of 10 of the patients they see during the free clinic have growths or polyps and that, in half of these patients, they’re considered precancerous abnormal growths.

He said they never would have known unless they went to the clinic. 

“About 50% of those seven out of 10 patients, we're curing cancer, which is a fantastic thing to provide to our patients,” Yoder said. 

The no cost colonoscopy clinic occurs quarterly to ensure the Columbus Free Clinic can help as many patients as they can. The free colonoscopy clinics take place at The Ohio State University East Hospital endoscopy suite. On average nearly 65% of Ohioans are up to date with colorectal cancer screenings, which is slightly higher than the national average.